Eric Washington was gunned down in 2015. (Source: Family of Eric Washington)

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -

Pamela Dinkins never thought March 15, 2015, would be the last time she would ever hear her son's voice.

“I love you, mom. I’ll be back,” were the last words she would hear from her son, Eric Washington. That was just hours before he went to play basketball at T.S Martin Park in Columbia. Dinkins was working in Florence at the time.

Everyone remembers Washington as a CA Johnson High School student who had plans to join the US Army.

“He was 17. He was getting ready to graduate high school. He was already in an army national guard and would have went to Fort Jackson. I didn’t get to see him graduate high school,” Dinkins said with tears streaming down her face.

In a tense courtroom setting, a day Dinkins had been waiting for since her son was killed, the person accused of killing Washington was found not guilty. After deliberating for 2 hours, the jury returned the verdict of not guilty for Pough. However, he was found guilty on a charge of possession of a firearm during a violent crime.

"So that makes you wonder did they even look at the case?” asked Dinkins.

Dinkins broke her silence over the weekend speaking exclusively to WIS since the trial ended last week.

"It made me numb," she said with tears falling. Dinkins sat in a courtroom for more than a week while prosecutors and defense argued their case. But the emotional rollercoaster isn't over just yet.

"I hope that he takes this as a learning experience and moves forward. Maybe God gave him another chance at life. He will come forward and say let me give you the details to help me prosecute the next person in line,” said Dinkins.

Washington's mother blames the jury and says it's likely that Pough won’t serve any time at all.

"He is just going to be let go. Back into society,” Dinkins said. "If the jury would have took the time to acknowledge the case.”

Dinkins said the prosecutor told her on Friday that they filed a motion to drop the conviction on the gun charge for Pough.

Highway Patrol troopers say they are searching for a 2001– 2005 Silver Toyota Sequoia or 2004 – 2005 Toyota Tundra with damage to right front headlight assembly and missing right side mirror. (Source: SCHP)

The South Carolina Highway Patrol is asking for the community’s help in locating a vehicle that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash Monday night in Hopkins.